Hello,

I am approaching a situation I do not have any idea how to handle and any workable advice would be greatly appreciated.

I am vacationing to Alaska next year. We will spend approx one week in the Juneau area, get on a cruise for a week, terminate at Sitka then and spend another week enjoying that area, before flying back home.

My problem: The cruise line absolutely forbids firearms on board. (Even if buried in the hold/secured and only accessible at starting/ending port.)

How do I *legally* get rid of a handgun for a week or so in Juneau and be able to pick it up from another person/FFL in Sitka a week later?

I could drop it off with an FFL in Juneau and pick it back up after the cruise, *if* I was going back to Juneau, but I'm not. I fly from SIT to SEA to home.

So, the crux of the question:

a) How do I legally transfer a handgun to an FFL in Sitka (for cleaning) when I am miles away in Juneau?  Common Carrier - UPS/FedEx?  Are there any smaller carriers that only service the inner passage able to collect it in Juneau and deliver it to an FFL in Sitka?
b) Are there any FFLs with "branches" in both Juneau and Sitka?  I deliver it to one branch, collect it a week later from the other branch?

By what legal means may I be armed in both Juneau and Sitka (approx 1 week each) with my personally owned handgun?

It was proposed on another forum (where I asked a similar question) that I contract for a Juneau common carrier to deliver the handgun to a Sitka FFL for a "cleaning/function test" maintenance service and reclaim it person to person from the Sitka FFL.  So, no 4473 req'd.  I'm looking into this possible solution.

Is anyone familiar with Sitka FFLs and can recommend one/two to use (or perhaps, to stay away from)

If you found yourself in this position, how would you handle it?

If I am not able to find a legal, reasonable way to accomplish this, I will just leave my handgun at home.

Thanks for your time and consideration.

You can ship it to yourself, unless Alaska law prevents that. https://www.pewpewtactical.com/how-to-mail-guns/

You’ll want to investigate whether packages will get there in that amount of time and whether your destination will accept the package and hold it safely without opening. If I were going to do this under your facts, I would personally take a sidearm I didn’t care as much about in case of loss or theft, whether on the plane ride or in the shipping process. Sounds like a great trip.

Are you planning to hunt or some other shooting sports while you're there? Or just carry CCW there. I'm a big fan of 'carry all the time'. But unless you find an easy FFL solution, I'd leave it home.

No, you have more than an idea because I told you exactly what was required on THR.




Again, FedEx Overnight or UPS Next Day from Juneau to Sitka.




An FFL is only for one location. While a gun dealer may own multiple stores, each one will have a separate federal firearms license. Dropping off at a dealer in Juneau and asking him to ship to a dealer in Sitka means a 4473 and not being a resident of Alaska means you won't be able to pickup your gun.


As already explained on THR, when you decide to leave Juneau you go to FedEx and ship your handgun to an FFL in Sitka for cleaning. When you arrive in Sitka you go pickup your gun.


Thats NOT what I recommended. Again, I recommend FedEx Overnight.







A legal, reasonable and easy means was given to you last Tuesday.

If yopu read that article you'll learn that:
OP can't mail a handgun period.
OP cannot ship any firearm to himself via FedEx/UPS.

OP can only FedEx/UPS his handgun to an FFL.

Dogtown Tom,

I read and appreciate your input on THR.  Unfortunately the thread devolved and got locked.  I PM'ed you over there, BTW, saying thanks for the input because the thread was locked before I saw your response.

I was hoping by opening it in Legal here I could get more input from other knowledgeable sources.

I also amended this post asking if there were any recommendations for Sitka FFL's.  So, it was not exactly the same post.  

Thanks,

JakeA

Huh!

All this time and I hadn't figured out that FFL's were location specific.

So multi-site operations like Walmart, Cabelas, etc has to maintain an FFL for each location?  No umbrellas?  Wow, what a pain.

JakeA

Just CCW.  No other reason.  The only shooting sports we plan on while there involve cameras.

Yep

He can ship it legally to himself. I assume your concern is the shippers policies. This same thing is done all the time, with the only risk being related to the policies, not the legality.

Might be a leave your gun at home type situation.

Mailing a firearm other than a rifle or shotgun via USPS is a felony unless you are a licensed dealer or manufacturer.
Shipping a handgun via a common carrier in violation of their tariff means any claim for loss/damage/theft will be denied.

Yes. Although the article is titled “mailing”, shipping is all that I have been discussing as OP asked for legal methods. Shipping is legal. And, the risks of theft and loss have already been stated.

I have found a simple solution, and am posting it here so anyone in a similar situation can find the answer.

There is a "common carrier" in Alaska called FlyAlaskaSeaplanes.  They fly humans and cargo to towns of all sizes all along the Inside Passage area of the state.

Seaplanes does not have the same policies UPS/FedEx do and will permit a non-licensee to send a firearm from oneself to oneself in a different town.  They'll hold it for up to two weeks at their terminal in the destination town (for a modest fee).

Just like flying with checked luggage, the firearm must be unloaded and in a locked, hard-sided case.  That case may be inside a piece of regular luggage.  Unlike flying with checked luggage, though, ammo in cargo can not be in the same luggage as the firearm.  They charge a $40 HazMat handling fee and put the ammo into their HazMat container (which is...  a milspec ammo can, sized appropriately for the amount of HazMat they must carry on any particular flight.)

So, I hand it over to the counter-person, declare unloaded firearms and ammo (which must be in "manufacturer's factory packaging").  Pay your money for the cargo and the HazMat fee for the ammo, tell 'em which Seaplanes terminal you want it taken to and when you'll pick it up.

Since it is all declared, they will store the luggage and ammo in their higher security storage area until the pickup date.

Easy-peasy.  No dealing with an FFL, no "cleaning" charge.  Just a routine air cargo transfer from one terminal to another, with secure storage to top it off.

I have an email confirmation from their Manager of Cargo that this will work.

Thanks to all for your comments, and especially dogtown tom.

JakeA

Awesome!

But $40 on top of actual shipping cost? Doesn't sound like a better deal.
UPS Ground should run less than $20 and no HazMat fees.


Ammunition shipped in limited quantities does not require shipping as "HazMat"....it just needs to be shipped with this label somewhere on the box:

And if being shipped by air with this label:

Yeah, it's HazMat + Shipping

I'll break down what we agreed to.

1 piece luggage (<50lb) @ $0.85/lb (containing the firearms, the ammo and misc stuff we won't need on the cruise.)  Let's call it $42.50.
They pull the boxed ammo out and put it into a HazMat container (Ammo can)(already labeled by them) for $40.  No shipping charge ('cause it was already weighed/paid for above)
No storage fees for just one week. $0

Total cost:  $82.50 (+ taxes).

Using UPS/FedEx

1 piece luggage (<50lb) requires overnight ('cause "guns")  $125-$175
requires FFL at receiving end ('cause "guns")  FFL want $25-50/gun for receiving
requires "gunsmithing" (so I can get them back without 4473) FFL want $25-50/gun for detail strip, clean and function check

Total cost: $225-375 (+ taxes).

So, yeah, the $40 fee for HazMat on (2) boxes of manufactured JHP is steep, when the ammo could go ground (even though there's no "ground" between Juneau & Sitka, only open water).  As a part of the total package, it's better to go with the Seaplanes air cargo service.

The fact they'll let *me* ship to *me*, and will hold it for me at the other end for a week?  And there won't be anybody at the other end finger-f#$cking my USP or my wife's P7?  Seals the deal.

I'll check back in after the trip and let y'all know how it pans out.

JakeA

That's a pretty slick but still legal way to do it, good find!  Enjoy your time up there, beautiful country and I'm sure you'll have a blast!